Counterfeit Cigarettes

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the volume of counterfeit cigarettes being sold on the UK black market.

John Healey: HMRC's latest estimate of the size of the UK counterfeit cigarette market is contained in "Counterfeit Cigarettes 2004", which is published on the HM Treasury website.

Gold Sales

Richard Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the proceeds of gold sales from the UK reserves have been in each year since 1997; and if he will estimate the value of that gold at today's prices.

Ivan Lewis: 395 tonnes of gold were sold from the reserves between July 1999 and March 2002. The proceeds in dollars, and further details, can be found on page 27 of "Review of the sale of part of the UK gold reserves" published by the Treasury in October 2002 http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media//9EFEF/Gold Reserves.PDF).
	At closing market prices on 19 October, the total value of this gold would be approximately £3,358 million.
	The programme was part of a prudent restructuring of the foreign currency and gold reserves aimed at achieving a better-balanced portfolio. As a result of the programme a one-off reduction in risk of approximately 30 per cent. was achieved (as measured by Value-at-Risk).
	The proceeds from the sales were reinvested in interest bearing foreign currency assets in broadly the same proportions as the foreign currency assets held in the net reserves (40 per cent. dollars; 40 per cent. euros; and 20 per cent. yen) and these have earned returns over this period.
	It would be inappropriate to measure gains or losses resulting from fluctuations in market values over a short-term period.

Tobacco Taxation

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the level of UK tobacco taxation on the volume of cigarette smuggling into the UK.

John Healey: HM Revenue and Customs and LSE academics have developed a new economic model of the tobacco market, designed to take full account of the complexities of the modern tobacco market, including the impact of smuggling. The model is published in GES Working Paper No 150 "The Demand for Tobacco Products in the UK" December 2004 and is available on HMRC's website.

Richard Commission

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will set a timetable for the implementation of those parts of the Richard Commission Report on powers of the National Assembly for Wales that he intends to implement.

Peter Hain: The Government's proposals are contained in the White Paper "Better Governance for Wales" which I published on 15 June.

Flooding

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of (a) the number of (i) homes and (ii) businesses and (b) land allocated for development at risk from flooding in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Elliot Morley: For part (a) the Environment Agency's assessment is based on those properties found within the Extreme Flood Outline. This is an area with an annual probability of flooding of 0.1 per cent. (or 1 in 1,000 year chance of flooding). The Environment Agency defines the extent of the natural floodplain as if there were no flood defences or manmade structures in place.
	"East Riding of Yorkshire" has been taken to cover the areas of East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston-Upon-Hull local authorities. There are 146,800 homes and 8,350 businesses. Planning Policy Guidance Note 25, Development and Flood Risk (PPG 25) recommends that when drawing up or revising development plans, local authorities should give priority in allocating sites for development in descending order of flood risk (known as the 'sequential test').
	To make these decisions as well informed as possible, the Environment Agency encourages local authorities to carry out a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment. This assesses flood risk across the whole local authority area, rather than for an individual development, and enables local planning authorities to understand spatial variations in flood risk. Future development proposals can then be assessed in line with the 'sequential test'.
	Both the East Riding of Yorkshire and the City of Hull councils have begun to develop a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment and have been in initial consultation with the Environment Agency.
	In the meantime the Environment Agency is providing them with advice and information to assist the process, and continuing to comment on land allocations and individual planning applications in respect of flood risk, through their role as a planning consultee.

Aircraft Crashes

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the limitations of the Automatic Flight Control System fitted to Chinook ZA721, which crashed on 27 February 1987, applied to the Chinook HC2 on its introduction to service.

Don Touhig: It has not been possible to locate a copy of the documentation relating to the Chinook HC1 that would have been in force in February 1987. However, the limitations on the Automatic Flight Control System on the Chinook HC 2 on introduction to service were the same as those that were in force in July 1987, with one exception. On the HC1 the Radar altitude hold was not cleared for use, the HC2 release to service did permit use of the Radar Altimeter hold, for
	" . . . use in hovering and low airspeed manoeuvres only, at heights between 75 and 1500ft Above Ground Level. The use of this mode when carrying under slung loads is prohibited."

Armed Forces Deployment

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members, and what percentage, of the Territorial Army are available to be deployed.

Don Touhig: As at 1 September 2005 some 12,000 members of the Territorial Army (TA) were available to be deployed, representing 34 percent. of the total strength.
	The right hon. Member will note that the figure of 12,000 is reached by the exclusion of (among others) personnel who:
	have not completed their mandatory training and/or are in the process of being discharged (approximately 11, 500 personnel)
	are currently mobilised and deployed and/or have exceeded the statutory limits on mobilised service (Section 54 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 limits mobilisation to a total of 12 months in every 36) (approximately 8,100 personnel)
	are members of the University Officer Training Corps (approximately 4,000 personnel)

Barges (Bridge Strikes)

Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action has been taken by public authorities against barge drivers or owners as a result of bridge strikes on the Thames in the last 20 years.

Stephen Ladyman: Since 1995 there have been 10 recorded instance of motorised barges, or dumb barges under tow, striking a bridge in the Port of London Authority area of jurisdiction. Of these one master was successfully prosecuted under S108 of the Port of London Act; two masters were issued formal written reprimands by the Harbour Master; three investigations resulted in amendments to regulations and/or company operating instructions; in two cases enforcement action was not considered appropriate. One incident remains under investigation. In seven cases, the masters were qualified Watermen or Lightermen. In the three other incidents, the master held either a national Boat Masters Licence or a STCW certificate. Of the 10 incidents all bar one were classified as "minor/slight". The Battersea Road Bridge incident, currently under investigation, is classified as "Serious".
	Only 10 years of data are currently available.

Motorways

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) undertaken on the safety implications of using the hard shoulder as a running lane.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency undertook research into the safety implications of using the hard shoulder as a running lane before including proposals for a pilot in "Strategic Roads 2010", its response to the 10-year Transport Plan. The research included reviews of international experience and the Agency's own experience of using the hard shoulder as a running lane during motorway maintenance. It concluded that with appropriate monitoring, control systems and operating procedures safety levels can be maintained.
	As part of the Active Traffic Management (ATM) project, being implemented between junctions 3A and 7 of the M42, extensive safety evaluation and research has been carried out prior to the consideration and use of the hard shoulder as a running lane. This pilot is scheduled to introduce controlled use of the hard shoulder as a running lane by March 2007, with the primary objective of ensuring that safety is not compromised. There is also extensive monitoring to establish the before and after effects of the pilot.
	Documents have previously been made available which outline some of the research that has been carried out to support the safety aspects of hard shoulder running.

Correspondence

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether (a) she or (b) other Ministers in her Department use an automated signing machine or stamp for ministerial correspondence.

Bill Rammell: Guidance on handling ministerial correspondence is set out in "Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments" copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
	Automated signatures may be used in exceptional circumstances, for example when dealing with campaign correspondence, however all replies to ministerial correspondence are cleared by Ministers before being issued. Other than that all correspondence is signed by hand.

Education Funding

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to change Government funding for (a) Havering college and (b) Havering sixth form college.

Bill Rammell: On the 21 October I made an announcement, setting out the Government's strategic direction for the learning and skills sector for the coming period. My main purpose for doing so is to ensure the 2006–07 funding allocations process begin with a clear and concise message on the priorities and principles that will underpin funding over the next two years.
	In addition, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) published "Priorities for Success"—a document that sets out the funding strategy for the next two years in more detail. This document is available on the LSC's website.
	Although more funding will be going into the sector, we will focus public funding even more strongly on key priorities of raising participation and achievement for 16–19 year olds and driving down the skills deficit in the adult workforce and continue to rebalance the contributions of the state, individuals and employers to the costs of learning.
	The Chancellor announced in the 2004 spending review settlement for education and skills in April 2004, that there will be over £1 billion of additional investment in the learning and skills sector by 2007–08. We will not know what this will mean for regional and local budgets until allocations are made by the National LSC Office, following receipt of the grant letter from my Department.

Further Education

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make an assessment of the merits of ring-fencing Learning and Skills Council funds for lecturers' pay; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We have worked hard with the LSC to simplify funding arrangements including reducing the number of separate budgets for further education. This has reduced bureaucracy and has made college funding more simple and transparent. We would be reluctant to reverse this process, which has been welcomed by colleges and their staff. "Success for All", the strategy for reforming further education and training, makes clear that the Government's approach to pay is to enable local flexibility to meet local needs and to encourage a clear link between pay and individual performance. FE colleges and sixth form colleges are autonomous bodies, which negotiate pay and conditions with staff and their unions without Government involvement either nationally or locally.

Key Stage Tests

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the relative attainment at key stage 3 between (a) boys and girls and (b) those eligible and ineligible for free school meals since the launch of the key stage 3 strategy.

Jacqui Smith: Information on the attainment of pupils in key stage 3 tests by characteristics are published on the Department's website. Figures for 2004 are available at:
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000564/index.shtml
	Figures for 2002 and 2003 are available at:
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000448/index.shtml
	A gender breakdown of the 2001 figures is available at:
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000344/index.shtml
	The 2001 figures cannot be broken down into those eligible and ineligible for free school meals.

Looked-after Children

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding has been allocated in 2005–06 to helping children who run away from care homes; and what steps are being taken to tackle the problem.

Maria Eagle: The Department of Health published 'Children Missing from Care and Home—a guide to good practice' in November 2002, in tandem with the Social Exclusion Unit's report "Young Runaways". This was issued, along with Circular LAC (2002)17 under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, making the guidance a requirement for local authorities. This guidance requires that protocols about the management of 'missing from care incidents' are drawn up with the police and that a senior manager is appointed to monitor these and that there should be regular reports to council members with responsibility for "corporate parenting" on patterns of children going missing from care.
	This guidance supports the requirements that are set out in the Children's Homes Regulations 2002 and the Fostering Services Regulations 2002 and their related national minimum standards, that all homes and fostering services should have explicit procedures to follow when children in their care may be missing or absent.
	Information about costs incurred by local authorities or other agencies in responding to incidents when children go missing from care is not collected centrally.

Schools

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many recorded incidents of physical assault by students on staff there were in each secondary school in (a) Havering, (b) Essex and (c) Greater London in each of the past five years.

Jacqui Smith: Injuries at work due to violence, which result in absence for more than three days, are reportable to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR95). Figures for England show that there have been no fatal injuries to teachers since recording began under RIDDOR95. The following table shows the number of non-fatal injuries to secondary school workers involving acts of violence where the assailant was a student reported to HSE's Field Operations Directorate in Essex and Greater London between 2001/02 and 2003/04, the only years for which data are available.
	
		
			  Havering Essex Greater London 
		
		
			 2001/02
			 Non-fatal major injury 0 0 0 
			 Over-3-day injury 0 0 0 
			 All reported injuries 0 0 0 
			 
			 2002/03
			 Non-fatal major injury 0 0 0 
			 Over-3-day injury 0 0 3 
			 All reported injuries 0 0 3 
			 
			 2003/04
			 Non-fatal major injury 0 1 2 
			 Over-3-day injury 0 5 5 
			 All reported injuries 0 6 7 
		
	
	Note:
	Secondary school level data is not available.
	Source:
	Health and Safety Executive.

University Endowments

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made on the pilot scheme for matched funding to help universities build up new endowments.

Bill Rammell: In our response in December 2004 to the Voluntary Giving Task Force report, we announced that we would make available "pump-priming" matched funding of £7.5 million over three years to help English institutions build their capacity to raise income from donations and we invited Universities UK to bring forward suitable proposals and administer the scheme. Universities UK, having invited applications, are currently considering an encouraging number of proposals from institutions, and expect to announce allocations before the end of this financial year.

Child Abuse Investigations

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the interviewing techniques used with possible victims in child abuse investigations.

Hazel Blears: Guidance on interviewing vulnerable or intimidated witnesses (VIWs) is contained in 'Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance for Vulnerable or Intimidated Witnesses, including Children' issued in January 2002. This guidance became operational in May 2002 when it superseded "Memorandum of Good Practice on Video Recorded Interviews with Child Witnesses for Criminal Proceedings". Victims in sexual offence proceedings are considered to be intimidated. Other witnesses in these cases—but not the accused—may also be treated as vulnerable or intimidated.
	Achieving Best Evidence covers preparing and planning for interviews with VIWs, decisions about whether or not to conduct an interview and decisions about whether the interview should be video recorded or whether it would be more appropriate for a written statement to be taken. It covers the interviewing of such witnesses both for the purposes of making a video-recorded statement and also for taking a written statement, their preparation for court and any subsequent court appearance.
	Other guidance includes: 'Guidance on the Recording of Interviews with Vulnerable and Significant (Key) Witnesses' issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers; and 'Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter-agency issues' issued jointly by the Home Office and Department of Health.

Peace Process

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on recent developments in the peace process.

Peter Hain: There have been major, positive developments in the process over the summer. The IRA's 28 July statement ordered an end to the armed campaign and instructed the development of purely political and democratic programmes. In my 28 July letter to all MPs, I welcomed the statement for its clarity and lack of conditionality.
	On 26 September, the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported that the Commission had "determined that the IRA has met its commitment to put all its arms beyond use in a manner called for by the legislation."
	I laid in Parliament the 7th report of the Independent Monitoring Commission on 19 October. That report concludes that the PIRA statement, despite coming at a point when five sixths of the period under review had elapsed, is "very significant". The statement and the act of decommissioning reported by the IICD on 26 September have created a platform for future progress and 'initial signs following the PIRA statement are encouraging'. However, It is essential that the IMC, as they state, are able to observe 'cumulative changes in behaviour over a more sustained period of time . . . '.
	I await the next report of the Commission, due in January 2006.

Paramilitary Organisations

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of how many (a) punishment beatings, (b) expulsions and (c) other criminal activities have been committed by republican paramilitary organisations since 4 pm on 28 July; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: PSNI statistics for the period in question confirm that two assaults have been attributed to republican paramilitaries during this period.
	Expulsions are not recorded statistically by PSNI.
	The Government's position is clear on criminality: In order to create the conditions for political progress to continue to flourish, there must be an end to criminality and paramilitary activity.
	The Secretary of State has demanded that the IRA sever its links to gangsterism and that, just as it has turned its back on paramilitary activity, it must do so on criminality.

Civil Partnership Document

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what the total cost of the publication "Civil Partnership: What does it Mean for You" was; and which organisations were consulted in relation to its content;
	(2)  what estimate has been made of the number of people in Northern Ireland who will take advantage of the new civil partner status;
	(3)  how many copies of the publication "Civil Partnership: What does it Mean for You?" were printed; and if he will make a statement on its circulation in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: No official estimate has been made of the number of people in Northern Ireland who will take advantage of the new status of civil partner. The regulatory impact assessment which accompanied the Civil Partnership Act 2004 attempted to estimate the proportion of the lesbian, gay and bisexual population in Great Britain who will be in a civil partnership in 2050. It proceeded on the assumption that 5 percent. of the adult population in Great Britain is lesbian, gay or bisexual. It then examined evidence of take up of comparable partnership schemes in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands and concluded that the take-up would be small, possibly in the region of 5 percent. to 10 percent. of the proportion of the heterosexual population who choose to marry. The legislation, however, has implications for same-sex couples who choose not to form a civil partnership but to live together as if they were civil partners.
	1000 copies of the guidance, "Civil Partnership: What does it Mean for You", were printed at a cost of approximately £1,500. Copies have been circulated widely throughout Northern Ireland to political parties, Citizens Advice Bureaux, public libraries and other advice givers in the voluntary sector as well as groups representative of the lesbian and gay community in Northern Ireland. A draft of the guidance was considered by the coalition on sexual orientation, an umbrella group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in Northern Ireland. In addition, the guidance is available on the Office of law reform website at www.olrni.gov.uk

Disability Living Allowance

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland are in receipt of disability living allowance high rate case component as well as the high rate mobility component.

David Hanson: Please note that in answering the question the word case was taken to mean care. The figures requested are shown in the following table and are the most recent information available taken at August 2005.
	
		
			 Parliamentary constituency Recipients 
		
		
			 Belfast East 1,050 
			 Belfast North 1,713 
			 Belfast South 1,010 
			 Belfast West 2,677 
			 East Antrim 918 
			 East Londonderry 1,030 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1,420 
			 Foyle 2,105 
			 Lagan Valley 1,198 
			 Mid Ulster 1,663 
			 Newry and Armagh 2,049 
			 North Antrim 1,194 
			 North Down 886 
			 South Antrim 1,166 
			 South Down 1,758 
			 Strangford 1,231 
			 Upper Bann 2,022 
			 West Tyrone 2,189 
			 Missing postcode(15) 265 
			 Total 27,544 
		
	
	(15) In producing this analysis, individual records were attributed to wards and parliamentary constituency on the basis of their postcode. Not all records can be correctly allocated to a ward using this method, and some cannot be allocated at all; this occurs when a postcode is recorded incorrectly or is missing.

Nursery Education

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much investment has been allocated by the Department of Education to nursery units attached to (a) state controlled, (b) Catholic maintained and (c) integrated primary schools in Northern Ireland in each of the past 10 years.

Jacqui Smith: Under the Pre-School Education Expansion Programme Capital Scheme the amount of funding allocated to nursery units attached to statutory primary schools was as follows:
	
		
			   £000 
			 Financial year Controlled Catholic maintained Integrated primary 
		
		
			 1998–99 64 0 0 
			 1999–2000 167 510 32 
			 2000–01 1,195 1,935 328 
			 2001–02 1,366 1,697 206 
			 2002–03 1,210 1,564 162 
			 2003–04 786 1,071 0 
			 2004–05 220 200 0 
		
	
	The above information does not take account of investment in nursery units where these formed an integral part of a major capital work for a primary school. It is not possible to identify separately the level of such investment for the nursery element. Capital investment in nurseries prior to 1998 was not identified separately from investment in primary schools and, therefore, the information is not available for earlier years.

Organ Donation

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to increase public awareness of organ donor programmes.

Shaun Woodward: Responsibility for the organ donor register and raising public awareness of organ donor programmes rests with NHS blood and transplant (formerly UK Transplant). They organise national publicity campaigns, which are also run in Northern Ireland. These are supplemented at local and regional level by publicity organised through the Department of Health, social services and public safety and the transplant co-ordinators based in Belfast City hospital.
	Following on from the "Life's Amazing, Pass It On" campaign in 2004 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the organ donor register, 510 local pharmacies have agreed to display copies of a "Signed Up Yet?" leaflet in a joint initiative between Northern Ireland's pharmaceutical contractors' committee and NHS blood and transplant. A major publicity campaign is also being organised for December 2005 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the world's first successful cornea transplant.
	The success in raising public awareness locally is demonstrated by the increase in the percentage of the Northern Ireland population who are now members of the organ donor register: 17.7 percent. as compared to 9 percent. in 2003.

Sustainable Development

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what steps have been taken by his Department to review its arrangements for public reporting of its sustainable development impacts;
	(2)  what arrangements his Department has to report publicly on its key sustainable development impacts.

Angela Smith: The Department of the Environment (DOE) is taking the lead in developing the Sustainable Development Strategy for Northern Ireland which is programmed to launch on 13 December 2005.
	Incorporated within the strategy will be a set of commitments specific to Northern Ireland which will address some of the key social, economic and environmental issues.
	The strategy will be followed by a series of implementation plans which will use lower level objectives, targets and indicators to help translate the strategy into action on the ground and which will permit progress to be measured.
	The specific arrangements for publishing progress against the indicators will be addressed within the strategy document which is currently being developed.
	Data from Northern Ireland will also contribute to the UK headline indicators of sustainable development as part of our commitment to the overarching UK Framework for sustainable development "One future—different paths' launched in March 2005.

Zimbabwe

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what is his latest assessment of the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

Hilary Benn: Credible independent estimates suggest that between three and five million people will face serious food shortages over the coming months. This is mainly as a result of bad governance by the Government of Zimbabwe, combined with erratic rains and the impact of HIV/AIDS which are also affecting neighbouring countries. The World Food Programme, with support from DFID and other donors, is presently providing food aid for one million vulnerable Zimbabweans, mainly children. Operations will be scaled up as hunger becomes more widespread in the months before the next harvest.
	In addition, the Government of Zimbabwe's forced clearance of unauthorised dwellings earlier this year, Operation Murambatsvina ("Clean Up"), displaced or destroyed the livelihoods of 700,000 people, aggravating poverty and food shortages in both urban and rural areas. The Zimbabwe Government's own efforts to mitigate the suffering caused by their mass evictions have been limited, and in some instances, the Government has obstructed the wider humanitarian effort, for example by refusing to accept the provision of tents and other temporary shelters for those without shelter. Despite these difficulties, a range of UN and non-governmental agencies are operating relief programmes reaching 40,000 affected households, including those affected by HIV and AIDS, with supplies of food, blankets, medical care and other essential items.
	DFID has provided over £100 million in humanitarian support to Zimbabwe since the onset of the food crisis in September 2001. All funding is channelled through UN agencies and NGOs, who ensure that assistance reaches those who need it most.

Big Lottery Fund

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the projects that have unsuccessfully applied for grants from the Big Lottery Fund in the past 12 months; and for what reasons each application was turned down.

Richard Caborn: The information requested is not readily available to me. It will require a degree of work to collate and I expect that the subsequent response is longer than Hansard would normally publish. I have therefore asked the chief executive of the Fund to write to the hon. Member and I will place copies of his response in the Libraries of both Houses.

Child Obesity

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of five-year-olds she expects will be participating in two hours or more of sport or physical activity in school by (a) 2006 and (b) 2008; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The results of the 2004–05 school sport survey confirmed that we are on track to deliver the Public Service Agreement Target—shared with the Department for Education and Skills—to increase the percentage of five to 16-year-olds in England who spend a minimum of two hours a week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent. by 2006 and to 85 per cent. by 2008.
	The survey showed that overall, 69 per cent. of pupils in partnership schools were participating in at least two hours of high quality PE and school sport in a typical week—an 11 per cent. increase from the 2003–04 survey.
	The results of the 2004–05 school sports survey—the largest survey of its kind in Europe—were published on 2 September. A copy of the survey report "The Results of the 2004–05 School Sport Survey" has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Libraries (Lancashire)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) books, (b) DVDs, (c) video cassettes, (d) computer games and (e) audio books have been available in library service stock in (a) Lancashire and (b) Ribble Valley in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: holding answer 25 October 2005
	The information is not held centrally. However, the table shows, respectively, the total bookstock and the total numbers of audio visual, electronic and other types of stock held by Lancashire libraries since 1997–98. The comparable figures for public libraries in the Ribble Valley constituency are not held centrally.
	
		
			  Bookstock Total audio, visual, electronic and other stock 
		
		
			 1997–98 3,104,255 (25)— 
			 1998–99 2,561,136 (25)— 
			 1999–2000 2,486,056 114,106 
			 2000–01 2,386,475 (25)— 
			 2001–02 2,316,941 (25)— 
			 2002–03 2,309,233 120,411 
			 2003–04 2,184,021 134,463 
		
	
	(25) No return received from Lancashire libraries.
	Source:
	Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy—Public library statistics (Actuals)

Licensing Act

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what contribution her Department is making to the Government's measures to tackle binge drinking; and if she will make a statement.

James Purnell: The Government believe that current fixed opening hours encourage patrons to binge drink and the Licensing Act 2003, which takes effect on 24 November, will enable a greater variety of premises to adopt flexible hours and so remove the need for some patrons to drink as much as possible before the pubs and bars close.
	The Act also provides the police with a raft of new powers for tackling disorderly and criminal behaviour on licensed premises and to apply for reviews of licences where drunkenness and disorderly behaviour are prevalent.
	The Licensing Act is part of a wider strategy on binge drinking, including the Violent Crime Reduction Bill and the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy.
	My Department will closely monitor and evaluate the impact of the Act on crime and disorder to ensure that the Act delivers on our promise to provide a more civilised late night society.

Medical Errors/Incidents

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) medical errors and (b) reportable incidents involving (i) drugs and (ii) equipment in NHS hospitals in London there were in each year since 1997.

Jane Kennedy: It is only possible to provide data on the number of reportable incidents involving drugs and equipment. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) operates national systems for the collection and monitoring information of adverse events related to drugs and devices. Both systems rely upon voluntary reporting of suspected adverse events by health professionals. Manufacturers with respect to devices and marketing authorisation holders with respect to drugs have statutory obligations to report suspected adverse events.
	Table one shows the total number of suspected adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports received via the voluntary yellow card scheme from 1997 to 2005 by year from London hospitals.
	
		Table 1: Reports received via the yellow card scheme from London hospitals
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997 690 
			 1998 837 
			 1999 891 
			 2000 941 
			 2001 860 
			 2002 789 
			 2003 791 
			 2004 866 
			 2005(26) 762 
		
	
	(26) Data up to 10 October 2005.
	The MHRA pharmacovigilance system does not differentiate between national health service and private hospitals. The number of reports received from London hospitals, therefore, includes day hospitals, private hospitals and hospitals that may now be closed. It is important to note that a report of an adverse drug reaction does not necessarily mean that it was caused by the drug. Many factors have to be taken into account in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication and the underlying disease.
	Table two shows the number of medical device related adverse incident reports submitted to the MHRA from the NHS in London on a voluntary basis between mid-1999 and 2005. Information obtainable from electronic records created prior to mid-1999 does not distinguish reports from the NHS in London.
	
		Table 2: Medical device related adverse incident reports submitted to the MHRA from the NHS in London
		
			  Number of reports received from London hospitals 
		
		
			 1999 226 
			 2000 426 
			 2001 422 
			 2002 483 
			 2003 459 
			 2004 355 
			 2005 (27)239 
		
	
	(27) Data up to 12 October 2005

NHS Estates

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) of 5 October 2005, Official Report, columns 2835–36W, on NHS Estates, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) timetable are for the wider review of regulation in health and social care.

Jane Kennedy: I gave details of the wider review of regulation on 19 October 2005, Official Report, columns. 56–57WS. The review will be conducted by officials from the Department of Health, with external scrutiny and challenge provided by a regulation review panel, comprising Lord Currie of Marylebone (chair), Dr. Dieter Helm of New College Oxford, and Mr. Robert Chilton, acting chair of the National Consumers Council. I shall provide a further update in the new year.

Stroke

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding her Department provides for the Stroke Association.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 October 2005
	The Department provides funding for the Stroke Association to conduct specific projects. They are currently receiving funding for a four year project, entitled, "Stroke Prevention among South Asians". They will receive a total of £50,500 in four annual payments.

Departmental Staff

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the rates of employee absence in his Office have been in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002. I refer the hon. Member to the figures contained in the annual report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" published by the Cabinet Office. Table A of the report gives details of both the average working days absence per staff year and the number of staff years on which that calculation is based. The most recent report for calendar year 2003 was published on 1 November and copies placed in the Libraries of the House. Reports for 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 are also available in the Library and on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_of_the_civil_ser vice/conditions_of_service/occupational_health/publications/index.asp
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to managing sickness absence effectively and is putting in place the recommendations of recently published report "Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector".

Departmental Staff

Nick Gibb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what training in (a) literacy and (b) numeracy is offered to employees of his Office.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Adult Basic Skills or 'Skills for Life' support is offered to new entrants and is also highlighted to managers, as part of the induction process.
	"Skills for Life" has its own page on the intranet with links to:
	Department for Education and Skills on-line literacy and numeracy tests;
	The Training Framework, which has a section on writing skills;
	The City Lit, who provide a range of Skills for Life courses;
	The Plain English Campaign;
	BBC SkillWise;
	LearnDirect.
	There is also information provided about dyslexia.
	Development advice is provided to individuals on request, regarding literacy, numeracy and dyslexia. Learners are then referred to appropriate providers.
	All staff have access to an on-site 'Learning Library'. This is well stocked and covers a wide range of material including Adult Basic Skills.

Window Cleaning Service

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon representing the House of Commons Commission what the cost has been of providing a window cleaning service for the parliamentary estate each year since 1997, broken down by cost for each building cleaned.

Nick Harvey: Until 2003 the cost of window cleaning was not separately identified. Since August 2003 when the present contract was let, the annual costs of window cleaning in buildings on the parliamentary estate have been as follows. The overall cost of window cleaning on the parliamentary estate is set out in the contract; the apportionment between individual buildings is a matter for the contractor. The figures shown represent the cost to the House of Commons.
	
		
			  £ 
			 Building Charge to House of Commons 
		
		
			 Palace of Westminster 58,000 
			 Norman Shaw North 7,000 
			 Norman Shaw South 3,000 
			 1 Canon Row 3,000 
			 1 Derby Gate 3,000 
			 1 Parliament Street 4,000 
			 7 Old Palace Yard 1,000 
			 1 The Abbey Garden 1,000 
			 2 The Abbey Garden 1,000 
			 Millbank House 1,000 
			 7 Millbank 9,000 
			 22 John Islip Street 1,000 
			 Portcullis House 63,000 
			 Fielden House 9,000 
			 Total 164,000

Benefits

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimates are of take-up rates of each benefit and pension payment administered by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: Estimates of take-up of the main income-related benefits administered by the DWP—income support, minimum income guarantee and income-based jobseeker's allowance—as well as local authority administered housing benefit and council tax benefit, can be found in the DWP publication series entitled: "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up". Copies of the reports are held in the Library; in due course the series will cover take-up of pension credit.
	Estimates from the Department's "Pensioners' Incomes Series", copies of which can be found in the Library, show 98 per cent. of all pensioner families (single pensioners and pensioner couples) have some income from the state pension.
	Currently it is not possible to estimate take-up rates for disability living allowance and attendance allowance. Following a recommendation in 'Meeting DWP's long-term information needs on disability: a feasibility report', (DWP Research report number 267), the Department is commissioning research to test two possible approaches to establish whether it is possible to estimate take-up rates for these benefits. Results will be available in 2007.
	Information on the take-up rates of other DWP administered benefits are not available.

Benefits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the number of households which did not take-up entitlement to council tax benefit, broken down by (a) constituency and (b) local authority area, (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of the number of eligible households, listed in descending order of percentage take-up.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available below national level. The latest available information is in "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take Up in 2002/2003", a copy of which is available in the Library.

Members' Salaries

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Leader of the House how many hon. Members are not eligible for any additional salary above the basic Member's salary granted for a ministerial or other position in the House.

Geoff Hoon: From 1 November, when the members of the chairmen's panel become eligible for additional payments, a total of 153 Members will receive an addition to the basic Member's salary. 488 Members will therefore receive the basic salary only. (This excludes the five Sinn Fein Members who do not receive a salary.)

Departmental Staff

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the rates of employee absence in his Department have been in each year since 1997.

Jack Straw: Recorded sickness absence for staff in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) was as follows:
	
		
			  Total number of sickness days Rate (days/officer) 
		
		
			 2000 (30)20,900 3.8 
			 2001 25,012 4.6 
			 2002 27,720 4.9 
			 2003 33,219 5.6 
			 2004 35,969 6.0 
		
	
	(30) Estimate, based on available data.
	Figures for years before 2000 are not available. Data collection over this period has been complicated by the introduction of new pay and management information systems. It is therefore possible that the figures given do not reflect consistent recording methods. The FCO is currently working to improve both accuracy and detail in this area.
	Per capita sickness absence in the FCO has been consistently below the public sector average. In 2003 it was recorded at 5.6 days per person. The data showed a slight rise in 2004 to six days per person. This is likely to be the result of better management control/reporting and the introduction of new IT systems.
	The FCO is fully committed to implementing the recommendations in the report on "Managing Sickness in the Public Sector". A new FCO health care contract which started in April 2005 includes a comprehensive occupational health service aimed at better and more proactive management of long and short-term sickness absence.

EU Finance

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which (a) Ministers from EU member states and (b) European Commissioners (i) he and (ii) Ministers in his Department have met during the course of the United Kingdom's presidency of the European Union to discuss the European Union's next financial perspective and the future of the UK's abatement; what discussions (A) he and (B) Ministers in his Department have held with each; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: We have discussed the financial perspectives, at ministerial and/or official level with each and every EU member state, the two accession states, Bulgaria and Romania, the European Commission and the European Parliament. We have made clear in all of these contacts that, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote to his fellow EU Heads of Government on 20 October, we believe that agreement can and should be reached at the December Council. Our position on the abatement remains as set out by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister before the House on 20 June 2005, Official Report, columns 523–25.

Malaysia

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for North-West Leicestershire, of 20 June 2005, Official Report, column 743W, on Malaysia, if he will make a statement on progress with the Government's review of their policy on the acceptance and wearing of foreign military medals by British citizens.

Jack Straw: The Cabinet Office Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals, which is responsible for advising the Government on policy matters relating to the Honours System, will be considering a Foreign and Commonwealth Office paper on the accepting and wearing of non-British awards by British citizens, at a meeting due to take place on 7 December.